The plant, designed to yield 60,000 tonne of nickel a year at peak output, was officially opened by French President Mr Francois Hollande last month.

Koniambo produced 8,600 tonnes of nickel in ferronickel in the third quarter, according to Glencore’s latest corporate production report.

New Caledonia, off north-eastern Australia, holds as much as a quarter of the world’s known nickel reserves and employs more than 6,000 people in processing the ore. Nickel is a key industry for New Caledonia, accounting for around 20% of its economic output.

Operations at the rival Goro nickel processing plant in New Caledonia owned by Vale of Brazil were suspended for three weeks earlier this year after some 100,000 litres of acid-tainted effluent leaked out.